by Janet J. Seahorn

War is hell, and there is no polite way to put it. 

But when modern war is fought by women as well as men, it can take an even more challenging toil on a family and community. 

As Americans, we are quickly learning that our country and its military facilities are struggling to provide appropriate treatment for its female troops.  There are many services for men; yet, we are not prepared to offer some of the same options for women.

This week I had two events occur from two different parts of the country.  The first was a disturbing phone call from a friend, who has several family members serving in the military.  All have fought in Iraq. Her son has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan on numerous tours of duty.

Her concern, however, was for her female family member.  After serving in Iraq the military woman has been home for almost three years, taking care of two small children while working full time in a demanding job.  The young mother had been exposed to a great deal while deployed, and has done her best to return to normal life stateside.

 Most of the time things are fine, but a few weeks ago, the memories, anxieties, and panic attacks returned with a vengeance.  As we have discussed numerous times in our blogs, the ghosts of combat often come back to take up residence in the homes of the military personnel. 

Without hesitation, this bright lady and her family sought help through the VA.  She has wisely enrolled in our local VA Clinic upon return from combat.  This time, however, she would need more intense treatment. 

Not a problem, except, that the only facility that could accommodate women only is in another state, making the decision to leave her family and work a great deal more difficult.

The second incident came via an article in the New York Times which was sent to me exactly two days after the first event.  Reading over the article’s information was all too familiar.  I had heard it just two days before.  The article by Damien Cave stated, “Never before has this country seen so many women paralyzed by the psychological scars of combat. 

As of June 2008, 19,084 female veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan had received diagnoses of mental disorders from the Department of Veteran Affairs, including 8,454 women with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress — and this number does not include troops still active, or those who have never used the V.A. system” (Internet, Nov. 1, 2009).

The article continued to comment on what we have heard from many female vets, that because they are women, “people underestimate what these women have been through” (Resick, Internet, Nov. 1, 2009). 

Since war has been traditionally fought by men, we have seen the Humpty-Dumpty effect. But what happens when Humpty is Mom?  What happens when Mom is the wounded warrior? What happens to the children?  What happens to the organizational system of the home: the washing, cooking, cleaning, and daily tasks? 

Who steps up to help nurture the nurturer when she needs comfort, care, and support?  These are vital questions that need to be explored and addressed.

When Humpty-Dumpty is Mom, she can be put back together; however, the tools and glue may be pink instead of blue.

-by Janet Seahorn

It had been several months since I last saw him.  The end of last semester during finals to be exact.  He had been a student in one of my university classes.  He was a big, strapping, young man who almost always had a smile on his face and some funny comments to amuse his table mates.

Before that semester began, I knew that several of my new students were National Guard or had served in the military; he was among them. On one occasion, he told me that he had been on active duty and had just returned from a tour in a war zone. Iraq one day, and the next day he was signed up and attending classes at the university.  No transition time whatsoever.  Yet, he seemed to take it all in stride. He even joined a fraternity. 

A few times I had spoken with him about some of his experiences and asked if he knew anything about Post Traumatic Stress.  Without much dialogue he nodded and mentioned that he had some symptoms but he was coping quite well.  And by all outward appearance and on most days he was fine.  Only a few times did I recognize the demons had visited him, but thankfully, they didn’t seem to stay very long. 

The semester wore on without much concern until the last month when he was absent a few times - until then he attended every class and only missed on rare occasions.  One absence occurred the first day of class.  He had e-mailed me ahead of time to let me know he would be missing that session because he was attending the funeral of one of his best friends.  Only later did I learn the funeral was a young marine who had been in our local papers and had recently died in Iraq. 

The marine had been a close high school friend.  They had been star players on their football team, shared Saturday night outings  built on a foundation of boyhood friendship. 

After our “catch-up” talk, he mentioned that the summer had been tough.  He had an accident which broke some bones in his ankle.  He could not participate in all of the fun activities that had anticipated during the school year.  Given the pain and the down time of recuperation, the memories resurfaced; the trauma of his tour of duty in Iraq, what he saw and had to cope with, the decisions he had to make on a daily basis - returned to haunt him. 

Typical of his strong personality, he downplayed most of the symptoms.  Yet, this is an intelligent young man.  He did not dismiss the symptoms and stated that he was getting help for his PTSD.  Just knowing this put my mind at ease.  I could only imagine what courage it took to take this step.  Hopefully, other vets who know him will follow his example.  He will get better - faster, in a healthier manner. 

Just a side note: I no longer choose to call this a “disorder”.  It seems to me the more I learn and understand this phenomenon, the more I believe that PTS(D) is the minds/body’s incredibly creative way to deal with an unusually horrendous life event. 

Had the mind not employed the immediate reaction of numbing and stuffing the event, the person may have died.  To avoid the ultimate death sentence, the mind/brain made a split second decision to unconsciously remove itself from the trauma until a later time; a time when the body was safe to explore the event without being in the line of fire. 

Pretty amazing and effective when you think about it.  If the brain wasn’t such a protective, innovative problem solver many of us would not be around today.  Yea, for our amazing brain.  Maybe it is not “disordered” at all, just creatively restructured for a bit.

In a few weeks I will attend a conference on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBIs).  Of course I will be writing about this experience and sharing some of the information with our blog readers.  Stay tuned.

-by Janet Seahorn

In a previous blog we wrote about the Wilderness and Healing. Before that we talked about how PTSD + Joy = Peace, Maybe — can move us toward wellbeing.

This week’s focus is a continuation of both ideas, an extension of how we can heal, can move forward and grow healthier. What every suffering person is searching for is a GENISUS - a new beginning, new start, a sort of rebirth.

So this is the big question, “what will be our new beginning after a trauma experience?” Trauma does not have to be the end of living, but a start of living life in a new way. It begins with the seeds we are now and grows into the people we want to become.

Imagine that person, vision it with all the bright pictures, melodies, and glory we can see, hear, and feel in our hearts. New beginnings ask us to examine what we learned from our combat/trauma experience, to go beyond the pain and terrible memories, and to rise above them.

To accomplish this mission will require that we put ourselves fully into the human arena. Isolation is not an option. We cannot lock ourselves away physically or emotionally; that means drugs, alcohol, over-working… are simply not possible choices.

The world is too rich, too interesting, too special to isolate ourselves. Yes, there are horrible things that occur. There is violence, greed, and cruel acts.  And for every act of brutality, I believe there are many more acts of kindness, beauty, and love. We must not forget to notice these during our times of darkness. We must attempt to appreciate the goodness in the world. It is present. Just look.

An old saying states, “What we focus on persists”.  What do we want to persist?  We can focus on those things. Write them up. Put them on our refrigerators, nightstands, even our mirrors. The new us begins today. We choose. By no means will it be easy.  The new us will not be perfect, but it will be real.

Like the Velveteen Rabbit, he became worn, torn, and aged only through the experience of being touched, loved, and used. And by going through all of his living, he became real. He developed into being alive, for being alive required a multitude of life events both magnificent and sad.

I am sure that if one were to inspect the experiences of the rabbit, he may have been diagnosed with PTSD. And, I am equally sure, that at the end of his days, he would not have traded these experiences for something easier and less physically or emotionally demanding.

He chose life, and so will we!

by Janet & Tony Seahorn

It was a small, black & white, furry 5-pound bundle of emotional and physical relief.  His name was Petie, the keeper of an adult warrior, Purple Heart, Vietnam Veteran.

The vet trained him as his first alert.  An important task.  Petie knew when his master needed to take his medications.  He would wakeup Dennis at various times in the middle of the night so that specific pills were administered at the most critical time in order to keep the Post Traumatic Stress under control. 

Dennis trained Petie especially for this purpose. They are best friends and constant companions, never apart.  This small, furry medic is essential, not just for the vet’s physical well-being, but even more important, his emotional/mental stability. 

Petie alerts Dennis when there is danger in the surroundings. He watches intently everything that goes on with his owner and around his owner.  If Petie isn’t comfortable his master knows to pay closer attention to his current environment.  If Petie doesn’t like you, more than likely Dennis isn’t going to become too friendly either. 

They coexist, two different species, one functioning entity.

There are numerous organizations that train service dogs.  Dogs that serve the deaf, blind, and epileptic individual. Dogs that act as the arms and legs of those who no longer have capacity to move on their own.  Now, some of these groups are training dogs to do something even more challenging, knowing when their owner may go into a PTSD anxiety attack. 

The dog must sense when such attacks may occur before they actually manifest themselves.  They know even before the person that something is coming on - giving their owner an opportunity to breathe, use relaxation techniques, and take medication if necessary.  They provide a sense of security and well-being in a world filled with unpredictability and potential stressors.

One such training organization is NEADS - Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans.

They are conducting an in-depth study of nine-ten Iraq vets who has severe PTSD. The study’s focus is to evaluate the most effective canine training methods that serve the sensitive needs of a veteran suffering from combat stress. 

This is a very expensive and challenging research project because it must take into account the behaviors of two very different organisms: human and canine.

It will be a critical piece of information given the increasing number of individuals returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters and those that have served in past wars such as Vietnam and the Gulf War.

In the last few months I have written about characteristics and effects of PTSD.  Some of the information came from years of living with someone with PTSD.  Some of it came from over a decade of research.  And, some of the information was the result of interviews carried out over the last eight years with families, vets, and civilian populations.  A recent blog focused on “What I know for Sure” about this illusive, emotional oppressor and I ended with a comment from a newspaper article where an Iraq veteran stated that admitting he had served in Iraq or Afghanistan was like the plague because employers were apprehensive about hiring vets with PTSD.  Reading this put me into a very philosophical guilt trip. We are trying to educate communities, veterans, families and friends about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  However, by no means is the information meant to make the vet look incompetent or out of control.  PTSD is like any other challenge.  Most of the conflict occurs within the person, and behind closed doors.  For the most part, few people outside the immediate family have little if any idea of the torment and struggle going on within the individual.

While driving to Wyoming last week, I read an article in Scientific American by David Dobbs (April 2009) titled, “The Post-Traumatic Stress Trap”.  The main idea of this piece centered on “a growing number of experts insist that the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder is itself disordered and that soldiers are suffering as a result” (p. 64).  As I read the piece I both agreed and disagreed with what Mr. Dobbs wrote. There is no doubt that many people showing symptoms of any type of illness or disorder may be misdiagnosed, and when this occurs treatments are not only ineffective, but may even be harmful to the patient.  PTSD is no exception.  Just diagnosing, it can be tricky because its symptoms can mask other ailments such as depression, memory problems, and traumatic brain injuries.  A helpful statement by Mr. Dobbs reminded the reader that for many vets returning from combat, normal readjustment may take months and even a few years to get back to regular existence.  “Seeing most post-combat distress not as a disorder but as part of normal, if not painful, healing” (p. 68), may take some of the stigma away from the trauma of combat.

All of that is fine.  Yet, as a researcher, I also know that for those who are misdiagnosed, many may never be identified due to lack of nearby medical facilities or lack of awareness. The last point Mr. Dobbs made, and I believe it is legitimate, refers to revising the rubric for more accurately diagnosing of PTSD. At any rate, the real challenge continues to be accurate identification of PTSD, effective treatment options, and correct information to increase awareness.  PTSD is far more than a mere “adjustment” problem. The sufferer and the family need immediate and appropriate interventions if restorative health is to be obtained.  As a nation, we have our work cut out for us, because a nation that forgets it warriors, fails its moral and humanitarian obligations to restore to physical and emotional health those it sends into battle.  We must always take action; we must always remember that “If we send them, we must mend them”.

We’ve all seen how dogs and other pets can have healing powers. A pilot program in California pairs service dogs with returning veterans with brain injuries and emotional problems. Freedom Dogs is a non-profit agency in San Diego that trains service dogs to do anything from retrieving items to providing a comforting distraction from PTSD symptons. To read the full story, click here.